Biography of sir william waller

William Waller (informer)

English justice and politician

Sir William Waller (c – 18 July ) was an English justice and politician from Middlesex.

Sir William Waller c. He was active against Roman Catholics during the alleged Popish Plot and was removed from the commission of the peace in April for his overzealousness. He sat in the House of Commons between and when he fled to Holland although he retained the seat until He returned to England with Prince of Orange in November

He was active against Roman Catholics during the alleged Popish Plot and was removed from the commission of the peace in April for his overzealousness. He sat in the House of Commons between and when he fled to Holland although he retained the seat until He returned to England with Prince of Orange in November

Biography

Waller was son of Sir William Waller (?–), the famous Parliamentary Civil War general, and his second wife, Anne Finch.

He was educated at Leiden University and afterwards travelled abroad. He inherited Osterley Park on the death of his father and sold it in

Waller distinguished himself during the period of the Popish Plot by his activity as a Middlesex justice in catching priests, burning Roman Catholic books and vestments, and getting up evidence.

He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in , and early he was the discoverer of the meal-tub plot and one of the witnesses against Edward Fitzharris.[6] In April the king put him out of the commission of the peace.[7]

Waller was elected Member of Parliament for Westminster in and During the reaction which followed he fled to Amsterdam, of which city he was admitted a burgher.[8] In and the following year he was at Bremen, of which place Lord Preston, the English ambassador at Paris, describes him as governor.

Other political exiles gathered rotund him, and it became the nest of all the persons accused of the last conspiracy, i.e. the Rye House Plot.

Roundhead general: a military biography of Sir William Waller: Sir William Waller JP (c. – 19 September ) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War. Elected MP for Andover to the Long Parliament in , Waller relinquished his military positions under the Self-denying Ordinance in

"They style Waller, by way of commendation, a second Cromwell", adds Preston.[9] In wrote an anti-catholic pamphlet, The Tragical History of Jetzer.

When the Prince of Orange invaded England in (during the Glorious Revolution), Waller accompanied him, and he was with the prince at Exeter.[10] William, however, would give him no employment.[11] He died in poverty on 18 July [12]

Popular culture

Waller was satirised as "Industrious Arod" in the second part of Absalom and Achitophel (ll.

–55):

&#;&#;&#;&#;The labours of this midnight magistrate
&#;&#;&#;&#;Might vie with Corah's to preserve the State.

He is very often introduced in the ballads and caricatures of the Exclusion Bill and Popish plot times.[13]

Family

Waller had married Catherine, the daughter of Bussy Mansel of Briton Ferry, Glamorgan.

Notes

  1. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: North, Examen, pp.

    , , ; Luttrell, Diary, i.

    Sir William Waller, Parliamentary General, died on 19th September at Osterley House and was buried in the New (or Broadway) Chapel at Westminster, an overflow burial ground for St Margaret's Church Westminster.

    7, 29,

  2. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Luttrell, Diary, i.
  3. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Christie, Life of Shaftesbury, ii. ,
  4. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Hist. MSS. Comm.

    Sir William Waller was a primary Parliamentary commander in southern England during the first three years of the Civil War (–51). Waller fought for Bohemia in the early campaigns of the Thirty Years’ War (–48) and was knighted in

    7th Rep. pp. , , ,

  5. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. pp. , ; Reresby, Diary, p.
  6. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Foxcroft, Life of Halifax, ii.

    Sir William Waller JP c. Although deeply religious and a devout Puritanhe belonged to the moderate Presbyterian faction, who opposed the involvement of the New Model Army in politics post As a result, he was one of the Eleven Members excluded by the army in Julythen again by Pride's Purge in December for refusing to aid the Trial of Charles Iand his subsequent execution in January Arrested several times during the British Interregnumin the run-up to the Stuart Restoration inhe was elected to the Convention Parliament.

    ,

  7. ^Firth , p.&#; cites: Luttrell, iv.
  8. ^Firth , p.&#; notes Catalogue of Satirical Prints in the British Museum, i. , , ; Roxburghe Ballads, ed. Ballad Society, iv.

    Cite this article Pick a approach below, and copy the chat for your bibliography. January 9, Retrieved January 09, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list.

    , , ; Loyal Poems collected by Nat Thompson, , p.

References

  • Cruickshanks, Eveline; Henning, Basil Duke (). Henning, B.D (ed.). "WALLER, Sir William II (c), of Strutton Ground, Westminster".

    The History of Parliament: the House of Commons . History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 4 August

  • Lee, Sidney (). Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. p.&#;
  • Marshall, Alan ().

    "Waller, Sir William (c–)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online&#;ed.). Oxford University Press.

    William Waller, born into a prominent family in Kent, England, experienced a tumultuous childhood marked by accidents and illnesses that deepened his religious faith. He attended Magdalen College, Oxford, and subsequently traveled to France and Italy, where he gained his first military experience in while fighting alongside English volunteers against Venetian forces. He captured Portsmouth in September and went on to seize Winchester, Chichester, Farnham, and Arundel castles, earning the moniker "William the Conqueror. InParliament reorganized the army as a centralized, professional force known as the New Model Army.

    doi/ref:odnb/ (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

  • Royal Society (). "Waller; Sir; William (c - ) (NA)". Library archive. Royal Society.

Attribution